Black BC: A History of the Black Experience at Boston College
A project by Black BC: A History of the Black Experience at Boston CollegeBlack BC Walking Tour is an interactive tour that allows online and mobile users to discover and explore black BC’s complex history on campus, in Boston, and in the nation. It mines anecdotal and informal resources as well as BC archives to commemorate the presence and contributions of black BC, and to document how this community participates in Boston’s black communities. The site is also a resource for BC students, faculty, staff, alums, and scholars who conduct research on race.
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Random Stories
Burns Library - The Robert Morris Collection – "From humble origins to the country's second African American lawyer"
Robert Morris rose from humble origins in Salem, Massachusetts to become a civil rights leader in Boston and the country’s second African American lawyer. He advocated for integrated schools, militias, and public spaces, and supported equal rights…
Upper Campus, Main Gate –
20 September 1971 – A white security guard, who previously “permitted cars onto the upper campus to unload students’ possessions refused entry to a car driven by [black students attempting to deliver food for a Black Talent Program picnic].”…
Devlin Hall –
September 1933 – Casper Augustus Ferguson became Boston College’s first African-American graduate on a hot, overcast afternoon on Alumni Field in June 1937. […] Ferguson commuted to Chestnut Hill by streetcar in the morning, and after the…
Thea Bowman Center –
23 October 1989 - AHANA House is renamed to Thea Bowman Center. During the dedication ceremony, Bowman calls on AHANA students to teach the BC community to include AHANA in the first stage of plans, not just the final stage, and challenges the white…
BC Football Field –
1937: Lou Montgomery (BC ’41) became BC’s first black athlete as a running back for the football team” (Allie Weiskopf, "Ahead of their time," The Heights)
Botolph House –
February 21, 1995 -Chris Stephen, a candidate for UGBC president, is challenged at a debate over his slogan, “Bringing UGBC Back to You.” “No matter how you justify the slogan, it insinuates that they are bringing UGBC back to you … and that it…